It’s hard to imagine a comparison of the delicate nuances of Antony Hegarty, from Antony and the Johnsons, with the type of brashness offered by singer/songwriter Neko Case. But as Antony had used Japanese Butoh theater (mainly through the legendary performer Kazuo Ohno), in which the performer attempts to embody a non-human form, such as […]
Music
Coverage of the music scene in Humboldt County with upcoming shows from locals and out-of-town acts, reviews, interviews and more.
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Embracing Ridiculousness
When Jordan "Yogoman" Rain called last week, he was on campus at Fairhaven College, part of Western Wash. U. in Bellingham, where he was finishing up paperwork to graduate with an interdisciplinary degree in music and business. Diploma in hand, he’s now ready to become a full-time musician, which is what he’s been doing already […]
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Oneness
For fans of African music, Senegalese kora player Youssoupha Sidibe was the highlight of last summer’s Reggae Rising, strumming intricate melodies on his 21-sting harp. Born in Dakar, Youssoupha did not follow the usual path to kora. Traditionally in his culture, sons learn from fathers in the musician caste. Famous players like Toumani Diabaté came […]
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Themselves
The Hunter Plaid Gallery was packed. There was a tall woman with a white flat top, short women with short skirts and an innumerable number of average height, nondescript men with mid-length hair, beards and beanies. With a $10 "suggested donation" cover, it paralleled a high-society column of fandom: A veritable Arcata gala, the open […]
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Dark Was The Night
On the occasion of its 20th year, the Red Hot Organization, an AIDS fundraising and awareness group, has released Dark Was the Night, a two-disc (or a three-disc vinyl) compilation with a "who’s-who" of indie rock of the past decade. Aaron and Bryce Dessner from The National worked with Red Hot founder John Carlin to […]
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The Hustle Gets Harder
Music maverick Adam Drucker, aka Doseone, or simply Dose, is an artist who straddles traditional boundaries and wears many hats. He started out in Cincinnati as a literate, high-speed, rhythmic rapper, a Scribble Jam champion MC who teamed up with DJ Jeff "Jel" Logan and headed west to Oakland. There he joined forces with like-minded […]
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Kool Keith — Dr. Octagon vs. Dr. Dooom
Perhaps Kool Keith is krazy, but that’s part of his appeal. The New York native Doctor of Dooom and eight-sided polygons has been rapping explicit non-sequiturs since 1988, and experienced a brief institutionalization stint after the release of his first album with the Ultramagnetic MCs titled Critical Beatdown. Some 21 years later the man is […]
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Estranged Meadow
If you were a kid in the late 1970s/early ’80s and your parents loved you, then you must have gone to Disneyland, which means you must remember when Space Mountain glistened with newness and high tech. You also remember waiting … and waiting … and waiting … in the outside line expecting that once you […]
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Keep It Hid
Former Replacements frontman, vocalist and songwriter Paul Westerberg has recounted how he would constantly try to record songs on his own in hopes to record a solo record. Those hopes were usually dashed by curious band members asking Westerberg what he was up to. Eventually the song would become a Replacements song. But if you’re […]
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Something Old, Something New
It’s a brides’ thing: For good luck they’re supposed to wear something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue. I’m not sure where it comes from, nor exactly why the phrase popped into my head. I don’t know anyone with pending nuptials; maybe it was going to see Rachael Getting Married (highly recommended, BTW) or […]
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Auf der Strecke (On the Line)
So the Academy Awards are on Sunday, and — here’s a rare doff of the cap to Coming Attractions Theatres — we’ve had the opportunity to see nearly all the films nominated in major categories (not counting Foreign Language Film, which has the most lamebrained nominating system imaginable). Unfortunately, short films get short shrift in […]
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The Crying Light
New York-based singer/songwriter Antony Hegarty is an artistic tightrope walker. Musically, he has confidently balanced the fine line between baroque and pop, feminine and masculine, earthly and ethereal. Hegarty, by sheer force of his original style, transcends such categories. As Hegarty explored transgender and identity issues for the inspiration of his previous 2005 release, I […]